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'Barbara Ann Deeks' MBE (born 6 August 1937), better known as 'Barbara Windsor', is an English actress. Her best known roles were in the ''Carry On'' films and as Peggy Mitchell in BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', and is now considered as something of a "national institution".^[1]

Contents

Early life

''Carry On'' films

''EastEnders''

Recent years

Marriages

Notes

External links

Early life

Born in Shoreditch, London as the only child of a costermonger and dressmaker, John and Rose Deeks, Barbara Windsor passed the 11 plus exam with high marks, and her mother paid for her to have elocution lessons. Her first film appearance was in ''The Belles of St Trinian's'' in 1954. She joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, coming to prominence in their stage and film production of ''Sparrows Can't Sing'' in 1963, achieving a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film Actress. She also appeared in the 1964 film comedy ''Crooks in Cloisters'' and in the sitcoms ''The Rag Trade'' and ''Wild, Wild Women''.

''Carry On'' films

However, Windsor came to real prominence with her portrayals of a good time girl in nine ''Carry On'' films and several TV specials between 1964 and 1977. Her first Carry On film was ''Carry On Spying'' and the last one ''Carry On Dick''. She refused to take part in any more ''"because she thought they had gone beyond the innocent sauciness which initially drew her to the series"''. Her most famous piece was in ''Carry On Camping'' in a scene during which she was doing outdoor aerobic exercises and her bikini top flew off. Her 10 Carry On films were: ''Carry On Spying'', ''Carry On Doctor'', ''Carry On Camping'', ''Carry On Again Doctor'', ''Carry On Henry'', ''Carry On Matron'', ''Carry on Abroad'', ''Carry On Girls'', ''Carry On Dick'', and ''That's Carry On''.
She also starred on Broadway in the Theatre Workshop's ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' and received a 1965 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Barbara Windsor was the recipient of the inaugural Rear of the Year title in 1976.

''EastEnders''

After a gradual fall from the top, which also saw her first husband, Ronnie Knight, flee to Spain on bank robbery charges, she considered quitting acting. Windsor once claimed that her biggest professional regret was that they only wanted unknown faces in TV's ''EastEnders''.^[2] However in 1994, Windsor was offered the role of Peggy Mitchell in the series. For this role she was rewarded in 1999 with ''Best Actress'' from the British Soap Awards.

Recent years

In 1999, she released a duet with Mike Reid called ''The More I See You''. This reached #44 in the UK Singles Charts. In 2000, she was awarded an MBE in the 2000 Queen's New Year's Honours List
After a debilitating case of the Epstein-Barr virus saw her take a two year long absence from ''EastEnders'' from 2003 to 2005, with just a brief return for two episodes in 2004, she rejoined the cast on a full-time basis in the summer of 2005 and signed a one year contract. She appeared briefly in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "Army of Ghosts" as Peggy Mitchell in a fictional episode of ''EastEnders''.
Windsor examined her family tree in the first episode of the third series of the documentary series ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', which aired on 6 September 2006, in which she traced her family tree back eleven generations to John Golding, the great-great-grandfather of the famous painter John Constable, making him Windsor's fourth cousin six times removed.

Marriages

Barbara Windsor has married three times:
#Ronnie Knight (married 2 March 1964, divorced January 1985)
#Stephen Hollings (married 12 April 1986, divorced 1995)
#Scott Mitchell (married 8 April 2000)
During her first marriage, she had an affair with her ''Carry On'' co-star, Sid James. She was also romantically linked to the gangster Reggie Kray in the 1960s. In her autobiography, ''All of Me'', Windsor openly talks about her five abortions, the first three of which took place before the age of 21, and the last occurring when she was 42. She was a real life landlady when she ran a pub at Winchmore Hill, Buckinghamshire with second husband Stephen Hollings.¹

Notes

1. " Ten Things You Never Knew About Barbara Windsor" ''Digital Spy'' May 23, 2007
2. Hibbin, Sally and Nina Hibbin. ''What a Carry On: The Official Story of the Carry On Film series'', Hamlyn, 1988. ISBN 0-600-55819-3 p 43

External links

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★ BBC Profile of Barbara Windsor

★ Official Carry On website Profile of Barbara Windsor

★ Barbara Windsor on ''Who Do You Think You Are?''

★ Barbara Windsor's ''EastEnders'' profile on What's on TV